I first stepped up to the role of "Pastor in charge" of a very small church a few months after my 24th birthday. I spent a good deal of those first few years fighting to be taken seriously despite my age. I lived off the words that Paul spoke to young Timothy encouraging him. And the verses near the end of Isaiah where the "young men see visions." And all of the "least likely" people that God has called - David the shepherd, Moses the stutterer, Deborah the woman (gasp!), Joseph the carpenter.
As I read chapter today, I am struck by the fact that I am no longer "the young" in the story. When did that happen? I read these verses, and I fully understand why it is a threat that God will "make mere youths their officials; children will rule over them...young will rise up against the old, the nobody against the honored." (vv. 4-5).
Today's chapter seems more in line with the conventional wisdom than the unexpected "Godly wisdom." Which makes me wonder....what sort of threat is this?
God is threatening/warning the people that the expected ways will be upended and the unexpected will step forth. The speaker never lets us doubt that this is supposed to be a bad thing. But the bulk of Biblical history makes me wonder.....is it? Is the exile punishment, or God's new opportunity?
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What I get from reading this chapter is that the "leaders" should'nt take themselves too seriously. That if anything their motivations are selfish and they will be punished for their abuse of power. (v14)First to feel his wrath will be the elders and the princes, for they have defrauded the poor. God created us so to what degree does He know that those in positions of power sometimes take advantage of
ReplyDeletethis status?
Kelly, I am with you. It occurred to me this morning that I will be 37 next month. I am having lunch with two new pastors tomorrow. I'm the old guy.
ReplyDeleteAnother thought passed through my mind, as I pondered my sermon. Lazarus was Mary and Martha's brother, but there is another Lazarus in Scripture. Not John 11, but Luke 16. Two completely different guys. The second one is poor, laying literally on his death bed on the door step of a rich man's house (who ignores him daily).
I had read this in Isaiah 3: God as judge speaks, "What is this anyway? Stomping on my people, grinding the faces of the poor into the dirt?"
Lazarus was so poor that he begged for the scraps from the rich man's table (who never gave him any). I made the leap to my sermon on the Lazarus Effect. $16 saves someone's life, as they struggle with HIV/AIDS.
I almost died in high school due to lack of medical insurance. There are a lot of Lazaruses in Africa and around the world who are dying for lack of $16. Please go to one.org/faith and sign up to add your voice to the cause.
One final note: As I was walking from my car up to church this morning, the temperature was nearly warm enough for a good Easter Sonrise service (Apr 4th last year, Apr 24th this year). It was not warm enough for the sight I saw: a homeless man, Bob, was sleeping on our front steps, next to his wheelchair.
I talked with him and offered help, which he did not accept. How many Lazaruses are in Quincy and throughout the globe that we simply don't see? How many do we almost trip over, but still don't see?